242:1 - Ezra HaSofer's washing machine

The Shulchan Aruch writes that the takana of Ezra was “to wash one’s clothing on Thursday in order to honor Shabbat [with clean clothing]”. The Gemara in Babba Kama (82a) which serves as the source for this takkana of Ezra, is pretty much verbatim like the Shulchan Aruch says.

This general formulation leaves the door open for 2 differing approaches to understanding what the Takana was all about.

1. The Sha’ar Hatziyun (242:16) quotes the Eliya Rabba and others who understand that the main objective of the takana was to ensure that the Shabbat clothes were clean when Shabbat arrived. The reason for stressing Thursday was a secondary, precautionary measure to keep the erev-Shabbat schedule open for other things.
2. The Sha’ar Hatziyun further quotes the Magen Avraham who disagrees. According to the Magen Avraham, the main intent of Ezra’s takana was to stress that there should be no laundry done on Friday whatsoever. It was not intended to encourage people to clean their Shabbat attire. 

I think that these two approaches to understanding takanat Ezra have a very practical implication in this day and age: Doing laundry with a washing machine on Friday.

According to the Eliya Rabba, since a washing machine provides the clean clothes for Shabbat and still keeps your erev Shabbat schedule wide-open for other preparations, there is no apparent violation of takanat Ezra and this would seemingly be permitted.

According to the Magen Avraham however, Ezra’s takana was no laundry on Friday’s. Period. Apparently no matter how advanced your technology is, there is a Thursday night deadline for cleaning your clothing.

So, like many things in Halacha – I guess it depends who you ask.

P.S.- R’ Nevenzahl (in his comments to the Mishna Berura) writes that today one can be lenient to do laundry with a washing machine erev Shabbat.

R’ Nevenzahl continues by offering an explanation as to why we can forego the takana of Ezra when we usually assume that an official takana cannot be disregarded even if its core rationale is no longer relevant. But according to our understanding of the Eliya Rabba above, I don’t think you need to work so hard for a justification. According to these poskim, the core takana of Ezra was never intended to limit laundry on Friday, but rather to make sure you have clean clothes in a way which won’t overtake your erev Shabbat schedule. Seems like the washing machine is pretty much exactly what Ezra Hasofer had in mind.

Har Sinai = Har Hamoriya

Since we are celebrating Yom Yerushalayim today and we are just a few days before Shavuot, I thought it would be worthwhile pointing out an apparent connection between the two…

Har Habayit in Yerushalayim is otherwise known as “Har Hamoriya” (see Rashi to Bereishit 22:2). It is very interesting then, that Rashi and Tosafot in Ta’anit (16a) both explain that “Har Hamoriya” is none other than Har Sinai.

Along similar lines is a medrash I found in Otzar Hamidrashim Chuppat Eliyahu (pg. 174):

חמשה שמות נקרא הר סיני: הר חורב, הר סיני, הר המוריה, הר האלהים, הר חמד 

Does this mean that Har Sinai is actually Har Hamoriya?! Is Har Sinai actually located in Yerushalayim (against pretty much everything we've been taught)???

Perhaps the explanation is a fascinating Medrash Tehillim (mizmor 68:9):

ר' נתן אומר כיון שביקש הקב"ה ליתן תורה לישראל, בא כרמל מאספמיא, ותבור מבית אלים… זה אומר נקראתי הר תבור, עלי נאה שתשרה שכינה, לפי שאני גבוה מכל ההרים, ולא ירדו עלי מי המבול, וזה אומר אני נקראתי הר הכרמל, עלי נאה שתשרה שכינה, לפי שאני נתמצעתי בתוך, ועלי עברו את הים. אמר הקב"ה כבר נפסלתם לפני בגבהות שיש בכם, כולכם פסולים לפני, אמרו לפניו וכי משוא פנים יש לפניך, או שמא אתה מקפח את שכרינו, אמר להם הקב"ה הואיל והטרחתם לפני בשביל כבודי, אשלם לכם שכר, הרי נתתי להר תבור תשועה לישראל בימי דבורה…ובהר הכרמל תשועה לאליהו. אמר הקב"ה למה תרצדון, למה תרצו לדון עם סיני, הרים גבנונים אתם כלכם,… אין רצוני אלא בסיני שהוא שפל מכולכם…וסיני מהיכן בא, אמר ר' יוסי מהר המוריה נתלש, כחלה מעיסה, ממקום שנעקד יצחק אבינו, אמר הקב"ה הואיל ויצחק אביהם נעקד עליו נאה לבניו לקבל עליו את התורה, ומניין שעתיד לחזור למקומו, שנאמר נכון יהיה הר בית ה' בראש ההרים (ישעיה ב ב), אלו תבור וכרמל וסיני וציון, ההרים. ה' הרים, כלומר כמנין חמשה חומשי תורה

Indeed, Har Sinai is the top half of Har Hamoriya. It was removed from Har Habayit in Yerushalayim for the purpose of Matan Torah and will be returned to Yerushalayim, according to the Medrash, at some point in the future.

A Word About "Havara"

I grew up leaning, reading and davening with a "Havara Ashkenazis", which was and still is the norm in many communities in North America. The poskim seem to be in favor of sticking with the same pronunciation that was learned from one's parents, teachers and community (see Iggrot Moshe O.C. 3:5). Today, we really have no idea what the correct system of pronunciation is, and therefore it is probably best to stick to the minhag with which you were raised.

It is for this reason that I continue to read, learn and daven as I did when I was a young child and this has also been my usual preference when writing Divrei Torah in English.

I think that for the purposes of this blog, I will make the jump to transliterating the Hebrew words and phrases with havara Sefraradit ("Shabbat" for example, as opposed to "Shabbos"). I think this will just keep things clearer in the long run... (in any event, the whole discussion about preferred pronunciation seems to apply only to actual speech and not to the written word - see the examples quoted by R' Moshe in the teshuva I mentioned above).

242:1 - By Way of Introduction

By way of introduction to Hilchot Shabbat, I think it is important to take a look at…. the introductions to Hilchot Shabbat, provided by the Tur and the Beit Yosef at the beginning of siman 242.

The Tur opens his discussion quoting several passages from the Gemara (Shabbat 118b) that stress the importance of keeping and honoring Shabbat properly (translations are my own):

“R’ Yochanan said in the name of R’ Yosi: One who (properly) enjoys Shabbat is rewarded with boundless inheritance”

“R’ Nachman said: Such a person is even saved from oppression at the hands of foreign kingdoms”

"R’ Chiya bar Abba said in the name of R’ Yochanan: One who keeps all of the laws of Shabbat is forgiven for all of his sins, even if he is an idol worshiper”.

"R’ Yehuda said in the name of Rav: One who (properly) enjoys Shabbat is granted all the requests of his heart”

The Beit Yosef quotes Mahar”i Abohav who provides explanations to this list of rewards, as well as some important perspectives on Shabbat observance:

"…he is rewarded with boundless inheritance” – Since a person honoring Shabbat properly spends freely without boundaries in order to purchase the biggest and best for Shabbat, his reward is of a similar nature – inheritance and wealth without boundaries.

“…he is saved from oppression at the hands of foreign kingdoms”/“...he is granted all the requests of his heart” – His acceptance of the burden of Shabbat saves his from being burdened by foreign kingdoms. Furthermore, he is given anything his heart desires so that he will be able to then use these rewards for further Oneg Shabbat – enjoyment on Shabbat itself.

“…he is forgiven for all of his sins, even if he is an idol worshiper” – This person’s attempt to learn and keep the Halachot of Shabbat properly is a clear indication that his idol worship is void of any real meaning or intention. There is no better or more fundamental sign of one’s belief in Hashem than the observance of Shabbat and the study of its halachot.

Mission Statement

The objective of this blog is pretty straightforward. Thank G-d, I have been maintaining a seder learning with my father for as long as i can remember. Now that I have grown up a bit and become a "balabus" with my own family and my own set of daily responsibilities,  it is increasingly challenging to find consistent time to learn together, let alone trade ideas and insights on topics already covered.

After giving this much thought, a blog seems to me to be a tool that can be of some use. Insights and discussion on the topics covered can be logged here in an organized fashion, not bound to one busy schedule or another. The material is simply available, all in one place, 24 hours a day with a platform for commenting on and discussing each post.

We are currently tackling Hilchot Shabbat (from the beginning), so that will probably be the primary focus of the blog content, G-d willing. If this proves to be a convenient method of sharing Divrei Torah, I may throw in some posts relating to the Parsha, Moadim and other assorted topics ... we'll take it slow and see how it goes.

Since the blog is open to the public on the web, I figured I would do my best to keep the posts clear and accessible to a wider audience so that those who stumble upon the site may find something worth reading.

Goes without saying that nothing written here should be used as a basis for p'sak halacha. Whenever in doubt, please consult with a competent halachic authority. My aim here is to learn Hilchot Shabbat (and whatever else comes my way) as well as I can and share some thoughts l'hagdil Torah uleha'adira.